Happy Easter!

Happy birthday Dad! Happy Easter everyone! Other than that, this week wasn't too out of the ordinary. One big event this week was I switched from my big coat to my lighter jacket. That's always a good sign. Today I'm back to the coat though since it's gotten a little colder outside. It's warm enough to be raining today though. We had a beautiful day for Easter, and good church meetings as well. The family we usually eat with on Sundays wasn't at church so we weren't going to have anywhere to eat (which isn't a problem except for the fact that our fridge is empty), but one of the single brothers in the branch happened to invite us over for dinner so we had a great easter dinner with him. The biggest miracle we saw this week was from one of our less active brothers. He has been struggling for a while with smoking, drinking, and some emotional problems. In the past he has only accepted visits from the missionaries, and turned away a lot of the members. The miracle was that this week two members stopped by and he let them in. Their visit with him changed his whole perspective on things and helped him gain a desire to quit smoking and drinking for good. He was reminded of the great spirit that was in his life while he was active in the church, and he realized he needs to do whatever he can to get that feeling back again. We taught him about applying the scriptures and taking things from what he reads. The spirit was strong there.

Happy Easter again! At this time I've had opportunities to reflect on the resurrection of our Savior, and remember all that he has done for us because of his love for us. Our goal should be to share that love with those around us in any way that we can. Love you all!

Love, Elder Oxborrow

P.S. The photos are from a couple weeks ago when we took the boat across the St. Laurent on p-day.

It's Cold

Hello family and friends,

It was a fun week to be a missionary. One night when we got home it was -15 F. Boy does that feel nice haha. It's livable though. It's ok since every time we go tracting in the cold our wives become more and more beautiful. Our week started on Tuesday since we weren't allowed to proselyte on New Years Eve. We helped a less active lady move this week. She really appreciated the help. We did a lot of knocking this week but had more success visiting less actives for the first part of the week. About Thursday on we started seeing a lot more success from knocking and with our investigators. We met with our investigator Diane and since we hadn't met with her for a while we had to push back her baptism date to March 2. We're crossing our fingers that she'll keep her commitments to prepare herself. We also met with Zoe that same day and had a great lesson with her. We brought one of the young women who has really been reaching out to her. The lesson was focused mainly on resolving her concerns and questions. The weekend was when we had a lot of success in finding new investigators. We found 7 or 8 people this week who we'll be seeing again. It was a great week. One thing about missionary work I've learned is that the more energy you put into it, the more joy you take out of it (even though it's sometimes exhausting).

My condolences go out to the Mitchell family. I have no doubt the Lord is with them every step of the way.

Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

P.S. Some photos I meant to send sooner

It's Cold

Dear family and friends,

I think we've gotten our first taste of Canadian Winter. The temperature has been sitting pretty consistently at about 23 degrees F, but that combined with the wind and the humidity gets pretty hard to handle, especially while we're out tracting. The good news is, it only gets colder! Haha. I'll be getting some thermals or something soon. Our investigators are doing well. We met with Zoe this week and just read the scriptures with her and explained as we went along. She should be coming to church again this Sunday. Diane was supposed to come to church this Sunday, but I think she was a little nervous about it so she didn't show. However, her sister talked to her about it and it sounds like she'll be coming next week. We're meeting with both her and Zoe this Thursday and we'll be talking about baptism with both of them.

This morning we woke up to a fresh blanket of snow! It was pretty exciting. Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

Transfer Calls...

Hello family and friends!

It has been a pretty eventful week. Actually mostly just an eventful Saturday. We started off the day with the baptism of our 9-year old investigator, Isaac. It was a great morning. There was a pretty good turn out from the ward. His grandparents were also there and were very emotional. His dad (who was recently reactivated) baptized and confirmed him. We did some knocking for the rest of the day, until we turned in an hour earlier than usual for transfer calls. Elder Rasmussen and I were both anxious because we knew there was going to be a change. He has been here in Fallowfield for 7 transfers, or about 10 months. He kinda had a bit of a spoiler a couple weeks ago when he was interviewed by President Cannon. One of the first things president Cannon said to him was "Well you've been here for a while, I think you're ready to move on." I figured I'd probably stay if he left so I was just wondering who would come in to replace him. By the time Saturday night came around we were both quite on edge about it. Calls start at 8 and you just need to pretty much be in your apartment waiting for the phone call. Last transfer it didn't come until 9:15 so you basically never know when it will come. We waited and waited, and finally the call came at 8:45. It was from Elder Bagnall, one of the AP's. I answered, and after he made sure we were both there he spilled the beans. "Elder Rasmussen, you're going to be training a new missionary on the island of Montreal. You will be opening up the area and you are going to be the district leader." I've never seen him so shocked haha. He's been here for so long that I think it was hard to accept that he's actually leaving. He continued: "Elder Oxborrow you will be staying in Fallowfield and you will be training a new missionary." Although I was surprised, I knew that there were a lot of missionaries coming in this transfer, so it was a possibility. I won't know who I'm training until the moment he gets off the bus in Ottawa. He'll get here Wednesday and then I'll be the senior companion in Fallowfield. I hope I'm ready, but ready or not it's coming.

The same address works for letters since I'm staying.

It's:

Elder Brenden Oxborrow

3231 Steeple Hill Crescent

Richmond, ON K0A-2Z0

Canada

Feel free to write. Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

P.S. The photos are from the baptism and some I took around our apartment.

Transfers Coming up...

Hello everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed Canadian Thanksgiving last week, I know I did. Last p-day we went to Canadian Parliament in the heart of Ottawa. For those who aren't up to par on Canadian geography, Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, and is in the province of Ontario. The Canada Montreal Mission covers all of Quebec (province), and Ottawa (City). So Ottawa is the only part of Ontario that is in my mission. The rest is in the Toronto mission. I am in the western part of Ottawa, so almost as far west as I could be in the mission. The Canadian parliament building is an exact replica of the British parliament building, and you could say it is Canada's version of the White House. We were able to get a tour through some of the rooms, and play ultimate frisbee with the other missionaries on the front lawn.

On Wednesday we had a dinner appointment at a quebecois family's home. Their native language is french, and they speak it to each other. I can tell I'm gonna have a hard time learning to understand what people are saying when I get transferred to a french area.

Our investigators are doing well. We have a baptism coming up this Saturday. It's starting to get cold ha. We hit freezing for the first time this week. 32 degrees feels a lot colder in humidity I've come to realize. I'm looking forward to seeing how -30 feels. One of the mission rules is that you're not allowed to go tracting in -40, so in -39 I'll be out knocking doors. That'll be fun. The fall has been beautiful up here. The leaves turn way red. I've started collecting maple leaves. Expect big news next p-day!

Elder Oxborrow

First Baptism!

Hello everyone,

It's been another great week here in Ottawa. We've knocked a lot of doors, taught a lot of lessons, and... had a baptism! It was so awesome. His name is Jesus Rodriguez. He's 18 and the missionaries have been working with him for a while but the baptismal dates kept falling through, but finally everything worked out. The baptism went great and I there spirit was there. He asked me to confirm him in church the next day! I accepted but I was so scared. First time I've ever done that. Hopefully my voice didn't sound too shaky because it felt shaky. It was an awesome opportunity though. 

All the recent converts in the ward are so awesome. Steve Sauve is the one who got baptized just before I came in. He's engaged to one of the members in the ward and they've had us over for dinner like 3 weeks in a row. They are already some of my favorite people. They'll be getting married in a year or so but chances are I won't be able to make it since I'm pretty sure I won't stay in Ottawa for a year. Last p-day we went to the museum of science and technology and it was pretty sweet. Then on Tuesday we had zone conference so President Cannon and the A.P.'s came out to Ottawa. It was really good. Then I had splits... with another greenie... in my area. So I was basically leading everything. Lessons, contacts, driving. It was a growing experience but it went alright. It rained on us again yesterday but I don't mind the rain too much. I prefer it to the beads of sweat down my back haha. We've continued to have dinner appointments almost every night, and almost every night we get fed ice cream. I think I've gained even more weight since I left the MTC. Overall everything's going well. I appreciate the letters! Sorry if it takes a little time to write back. Thanks for all the support!

Elder Oxborrow